Friendship Will Prevail
by TheRandomOneStaringAtYou
Summary: This is about Arthur and Merlin and thier friendship. It basically covers what I would have liked to happen in between when Arthur regained conciousness and when they walked back to the castle in 2.13. Slightly angsty but mainly a bit random. read!


_well... here's a merlin fanfic... obviously.._

_urr... basically its set after Arthur wakes up in the clearing but before merlin and arthur reach the castle. Basically its what happens in between. _

_hope you like it... i wasn't really sure about this one myself but meh... u guys r the important people!_

_well... here you go... ENJOY!!_

"Seriously? I did it? I'm a dragon slayer?" Arthur asked once again, his step on the brink of skipping he was so delighted with himself.

"Yes, sire." Merlin said again. They hadn't even left the clearing and Arthur was already glowing in his new glory. Arthur had taken the credit before for Merlin's magical deeds (he hadn't actually known it was Merlin, but that was beside the point), but this time the warlock really felt he was going a little too far.

"Arthur Pendragon, future king, fearless knight, slayer of dragons." The proud Prince puffed out his chest proudly, in a vain attempt to get his manservant to look at him with awe, or at the very least the smallest amount of respect.

But no.

"As long as you don't let it go to your head, sire." Merlin said sarcastically, and a little irritably. With that Merlin picked himself up from the ground and walked in the direction of the castle, not waiting for his master to follow.

Arthur, being completely unsympathetic as usual, felt like shoving Merlin in the stocks. That was when he remembered that the stocks were now nothing more than a few charred matchsticks.

Damn.

His happiness deflated slightly as his eyes fell on the still burning remains of his brave Knights. More death and destruction. The dragon had killed so many.

Arthur closed his eyes, feeling depressed all of a sudden, and followed Merlin. He had noticed Merlin had not even glanced at the Knight's broken bodies. He was glad of it, no one needed to see that.

"Merlin?" Arthur called out.

"WHAT!" Merlin yelled, sounding quite far off in the distance.

"WAIT!" Arthur yelled back irritably.

"WELL HURRY UP THEN!"

Arthur grumbled, intending to unleash a full death glare on Merlin when he eventually found him. He may be clumsy but his long legs sure did carry him far.

When Arthur arrived to where Merlin was sat impatiently on the ground, his glare turned into a sympathetic smile. His manservant was clearly emotionally and physically exhausted. He had travelled for days, including having to drag a sick Arthur into a cave and, for some reason inconceivable to Arthur, Merlin seemed to have taken the deaths worse than most. It was almost as if he blamed himself.

Now he was staring off into the distance, not really looking at anything, with a melancholy look on his face. He had bags under his eyes from lack of sleep and he seemed more fragile than usual.

Arthur startled as Merlin abruptly jumped up and started moving again, clearly uncomfortable with Arthur's stare. Arthur followed; begrudgingly feeling that he should really be leading with his manservant behind him, not the other way round.

The two walked in silence for a while, one slightly behind the second.

The silence started to become awkward as Arthur attempted to search for an easy topic to talk about.

Arthur cleared his throat awkwardly and swung his arm from side to side.

"Merlin?" Merlin did not reply but the slight incline of his head showed he was listening and waiting. "Are you alright?" Arthur asked tentatively.

Merlin laughed coldly but sobered quickly.

"M'fine." Arthur sighed.

"I don't believe you. You've been acting strange for days now, and even before the dragon attacked so don't blame it on that! What are you hiding, Merlin?"

Merlin stumbled slightly in shock at Arthur's perceptiveness. He hadn't realized Arthur had even realised he was there half the time, let alone keeping an eye on his emotions.

Realising he had not replied, Merlin searched around for a plausible excuse.

"Nothing." _Yeah, real convincing there. Well done._

"I don't believe that, Merlin. You're so quiet all the time. You never shut up either if you're happy, angry, nervous or scared and the opposites to all those! So something must be seriously wrong. Besides, you have a face of a slapped puppy."

Nothing. Merlin remained quiet and all that could be heard was the loud rustling of the crunchy, brown leaves under the two men's feet. No banter, no glare, no grin...

"MERLIN!" Arthur growled, losing patience. He grabbed Merlin's arm and swung him round to face him. "Please, talk to me."

The manservant scowled before his face crumpled in despair. It hurt Arthur to see his friend like this.

"I can't tell you." The despairing face hardened into an emotionless mask. But Arthur could see the cracks.

"Please, Merlin. I'm only trying to help."

"It would not help." Merlin shook his head as if convincing himself of the fact. "It would not help at all."

"Merlin, I'm sure it is nothing bad." Merlin laughed coldly again. Those laughs made him feel strange, like his friend wasn't really his friend anymore. It unnerved and scared him.

But Arthur remained vigilant. He stared hard at Merlin until Merlin met his eyes.

"It..." Merlin's face turned thoughtful. Arthur waited impatiently; thinking Merlin was about to confide in him. "It... is something I think you may understand... but not yet." _When you are King I will tell you who and what I am and what I have done. _

"What's that supposed to mean?" Arthur yelled exasperatedly.

"Just... that you need to trust me." _I need to know you won't kill me first. That I can trust you. _Merlin smiled softly. Arthur quickly returned it.

"I do trust you Merlin. I just want to help."

"I know... and... thanks for that." Merlin said sincerely. Arthur patted him on the shoulder and sighed in defeat.

"You are not going to tell me, are you?"

"I will!" Merlin protested. "Just not yet."

"And you promise you will tell me everything?" Merlin hesitated. Arthur meant everything. Not just why he was quiet. He wanted Merlin to explain himself emotionally but also discuss every mysterious thing about Merlin. Arthur, somewhere in his subconscious, knew Merlin was not a normal being. He wanted to find out why.

Merlin took a breath.

"I will."

Arthur immediately grinned broadly, muttered 'good' under his breath and signalled for them to carry on walking.

"One day, I'll solve the riddle that is my manservant." He said, elbowing Merlin in the ribs.

Merlin laughed.

"I will look forward to it. With an open mind, yes?" Merlin asked, slight desperation in his voice. Arthur hesitated for a second. Really, what was so bad?

"Of course."

The two friends grinned, and really grinned, at each other and walked briskly to Camelot castle, side by side.

It drove Arthur mad that he could not solve the Merlin puzzle but he knew he would get the pieces soon. He was also determined to listen to whatever Merlin had to say. He would always accept Merlin no matter what and hopefully Merlin knew this.

As Arthur was pulled into Gwen's arms and Merlin into Gaius's, both boys knew they had quite a task ahead of them. However, they would not abandon each other. No matter what happens their friendship will prevail.

_well... there you go. I really hoped you like it. And please review!!!! it would make me very happy! _

_cya_

_:) xx_


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